


Proposal; Take 1

by sadlittlepeachesandplums



Series: Quentin and Eliot Drabble Collection [6]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: M/M, Spoilers, outside pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 04:50:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13710198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadlittlepeachesandplums/pseuds/sadlittlepeachesandplums
Summary: Eliot's marriage to Idri is going to go on. Quentin . . . isn't a fan of the idea.





	Proposal; Take 1

Penny expects a lot when he walks into the the throne room. He doesn’t expect his friends to react, they’d done all their reacting after Julia gave him a new body, but he does expect a hello from one of them or  _something_. He expects chaos now that the fairies are dead. He expects hustle and bustle. He expects a lot. 

But, what he finds are three of his friends, Kings and Queen, sitting on their thrones, just staring out at nothing. Quentin’s hairs fallen all in his face, and jesus, he’s still got the fairies blood, dried up where it dripped down his cheeks. Margo’s toying with the ends of her hair as she stares listlessly. And Eliot’s staring at Quentin like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. 

“Uh,” He says, nearly jumping himself as they all practically fall out of their chairs, as if the door hadn’t creaked loud enough to wake a sleeping bear. “What’s going on here?” 

“We’re reveling in our victory,” Quentin mutters, pushing up from his chair, “Can’t you tell?” 

“Reveling usually consists of more, I don’t know– _reveling_?” 

Quentin huffs and makes his way over to the drinks placed just out of reach of the thrones. “This  _is_  reveling!” He exclaims, pouring himself a drink, “Yippee. We killed an entire species of magical creatures! Margo’s marriage got annuled because they never had sex!” He pauses, swallowing down whatever’s in the cup and making a face, “And! Eliot’s engagement to Idri is back on! Today’s chock full of  _reveling_.” 

Penny blinks. Jesus, he’s aggressive. Choosing not to get killed by an overly amped up king, he turns his attention on Margo, who’s now just watching Quentin like she actually feels bad. And honestly–how much did Penny miss while he was dead? What the fuck. “And you, space captain? Why’re you all gloom and doom?” 

She rolls her neck towards him, “I’m fine,” She says, “Gloom and doom doesn’t fit with my sense of style.” 

He rolls his eyes and moves on to Eliot. “What about you? Anything you want to lie about?” 

“Nope.” His pops the ‘p’ and slumps down in his throne. “We just got everything we’ve wanted.” He smiles wryly, but it falls, quick, as Quentin scoffs. He turns towards him, “I don’t know why you’re so fucking upset about this–”

Quentin pours himself another drink. “Oh, you know damn well why i’m upset.”

And, he might be wrong, but Penny’s pretty sure Quentin’s about to cry. If the tears welling up in his eyes, and the white knuckle tight grip on the cup is anything to go by. And knowing Quentin? It is. 

Penny raises a hand, “I don’t. Enlighten me?” 

Eliot shoves up from the chair and points a shaking finger at Quentin, completely ignoring Penny. “I asked you what you thought about it!” He exclaims, stalking across the room. Behind him, Margo sits up straighter, like this is something she’s been waiting for all week. “And you told me, ‘do whatever you want, Eliot.’ Instead of actually talking to me about this like a grown ass man!” 

“Because it’s not my decision!” 

“Oh, isn’t it, though, Q?  _Isn’t it_?” 

“This is  _your_  life.” 

Penny walks across the room to stand next to Margo. She looks up at him. “I’ve been waiting for this blow up for  _weeks_.” 

“What’s–”

“Shhh, just watch. They’ll resolve it, now that Q’s drunk and Eliot’s angry.” 

Penny doubts Quentin’s capable of resolving anything other than how much he hates himself, but sure, okay. He turns back to them to find Eliot standing directly in front of Quentin. 

“Don’t you think you’re a pretty significant part of my life?”

Quentin makes a face, brings the cup to his face and swallows down whatever alcohol is in it in one quick gulp, and shrugs up at Eliot. “Not as significant as I thought.” 

Eliot staggers back a step before he shakes his head and moves back in, “I came to you before I came to anyone–” 

“That makes it different? After everything we’ve been through! We raised–we had a family. We … I thought it was different now. I thought we were different now–”

The fuck? 

Penny leans down, “What’s this about raising a family?” 

“ _Shut up_ ,” She hisses, slapping him in the stomach, before turning her full attention back on Quentin and Eliot, all but eating invisible popcorn. 

“Are you seriously trying to suggest that we’re not? We had seventy years together, Q–”

“And you still want to marry  _him_?” 

Oh.

And Quentin’s definitely crying now. 

Is it weird Penny wants to give him a hug? 

“No!” Eliot growls, grabbing Quentin by the shoulders and leaning down to look him in the eye, “I came to you, expecting you to give me a fucking reason to figure something else out. But all you had to say is, ‘it’s not my decision’. What the fuck else was I supposed to do?” 

“You know how i feel–”

“No, I don’t!” Eliot drops his arms to his sides and turns around, one hand combing through his hair in frustration. “Q,” He says, after a moment, whipping back around, something desperate in his voice. “All i’ve ever done is choose  _you_. And you … you continually choose everyone but me. Alice, Julia, Ariel, and I don’t even know who else at this point. How can I possibly know how you feel when  _you never choose me_?” 

Ouch.

Penny leans down again. “Two questions–”

“I _f you don’t shut the fuck up_ –”

“Right. Got it.” He stands upright, just in time to see the look of hurt flash across Quentin’s face, as every worry wrinkle reappears and his mouth falls open. 

“I–I …” Quentin’s mouth opens and closes a few times, stammering through consonants and vowels and no actual words, until, he closes his mouth for a few long beats, his arms coming up to wrap around himself. “I  _always_  choose you,” He says, “I may … get  _confused_ ,” He blinks a few times, looking every which way, except directly at Eliot, “And I … I, start something with someone else. But that’s because I–I fuck up every good thing. And you’re the only good thing I don’t want to fuck up. And I–” He pauses, his lower lip trembling as he turns back around, a hand coming up to grab the bottle from earlier. “I always end up coming back to you… but if you–if you marry him–”

Eliot reaches up, places a hand on his shoulder, and gently turns him around. “Q, we lived together for seventy years,” He leans down, tries to get Quentin to look at him, “and we raised a child together–” 

“Hold up–” Margo reaches up and pinches Penny’s arm as hard as she can. “Fuck, ow, okay, let go!” 

“All I want is  _you_. When I’m upset, when I’m happy. Whatever the fuck I’m feeling, you’re the  _only one_  I want to share that with. You’re the only one i can be vulnerable around. All you have to do is tell me not to do it. Tell me this is it. We can finally do this, you and me, and nobody else.” 

“ _Isn’t he still married to Fenn–_ ”

Quentin looks up at Eliot through wet eyelashes. He lets out a slow, shaky breath. “Okay.” 

“Okay?”

Margo and Penny both lean in closer. 

“Don’t marry Idri.” Quentin says, sucking in his lower lip, his head wobbling in the usual Quentin way, before he adds, “Marry me. Instead.” 

Eliot’s quiet for a few long moments. And honestly, Penny’s about ready to scream at them both when he finally says, “Are you sure that’s what you want? Magic’s back, Q. It’ll be us. You won’t be able to be with anyone else. Not Alice, not Julia, not –”

“Just answer the question, Eliot.” 

Damn, where’d crying Quentin go?

“Was there a question?” 

“El.”

Eliot sighs, dramatic, “I mean, there’s not even a ring–”

“Eliot.” 

“And everyone knows how I love to accessorize–”

“ _Oh for fucks sake, just say yes_!” Penny exclaims, tossing his arms into the air at his sides. “Jesus christ, this is fucking  _pathetic_.” 

Margo scoffs, “Says the guy with watery eyes.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” Penny mutters, reaching up to wipe at his eyes as inconspicuously as he can.

She smirks, “Make me.” And Penny’s almost tempted to.

Quentin coughs, “Uh guys,” He says, motioning towards himself and Eliot, “You’re kind of. Uh. Ruining. The moment?” 

Margo rolls her eyes and holds her hand out, motioning to Eliot. “Be our guest. We’ll shut up.” 

Eliot shakes his head, a small smile on his lips as he turns his attention back to Quentin and raises his eyebrows. “Right. What was the question, Q?” 

Quentin makes a face. “Seriously?” 

“Oh, Q, I never joke about serious matters.” 

Sighing, with another head wobble, and somehow less confident than when they were fighting, Quentin asks, “High King Eliot Waugh,” A pointed eyebrow raise, “Will you marry me?”

Eliot pretends to think about it for a moment, laughing as Quentin’s mouth falls open. He pulls him in for a hug, whispers something Penny and Margo can’t hear, and then leans down to kiss him.

Penny nods to himself. Alright.

He’s not exactly sure what all lead to this particular moment, but hey, he’s glad to be alive to see the two most depressing people he knows be happy for a little bit. He looks down at Margo, who’s smiling at them like she knows something nobody else knows. “There’s so much I need to get caught up on.” 

She huffs out a laugh before nodding. “Oh, honey, you have  _no_  idea.” 

**Author's Note:**

> "Take 1" just means there are probably going to be more takes on how they propose to each other.


End file.
